Mirror journalist, Sun director to be charged over UK corruption

LONDON (Reuters) - A former journalist at the Daily Mirror tabloid and a veteran editorial director at Rupert Murdoch's Sun newspaper are to be charged with making illegal payments to public officials, British prosecutors said on Tuesday.

The Crown Prosecution Service said Greig Box Turnbull would face two charges of conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office in the first such charge for a journalist from the Trinity Mirror group.

He is accused of making payments to prison officers for information to generate news stories over a seven-year period.

Graham Dudman, an editorial director of News Corp's Sun newspaper for more than 20 years, is to be charged with three counts of conspiracy, while a former Sun journalist, John Troup, is to be charged with one count.

Dudman is accused of requesting the authorization of payments to public officials in exchange for information about ongoing police inquiries, health cases and an incident relating to army combat.

British police have arrested and charged a string of journalists from Murdoch's Sun tabloid, the country's biggest-selling paper, with making payments to public officials such as police officers and government officials in return for information for exclusive stories.

The investigation into illegal payments stemmed from a phone-hacking scandal that erupted at Murdoch's News of the World and which led to the closure of the Sunday tabloid in 2011 and a year-long public inquiry.

The Sun's deputy editor is among those to have been charged over illegal payments, while Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson, both former News of the World editors and close associates of Prime Minister David Cameron, are due to go on trial in September accused of offences relating to phone-hacking.

"We note that former Daily Mirror journalist Greig Box Turnbull has been charged as part of Operation Elveden - the investigation into alleged payments to public officials," Trinity Mirror said in a statement.

"We continue to co-operate with the police and further updates will be made if there are any significant developments."